ABSTRACT
Germany’s defeat in World War One brought its stewardship of Rwanda and Burundi to an end. The missionary presence was limited, especially in Burundi. The hypothesis that an early-century impact of colonialism in Rwanda was to widen the gulf between a ruling Tutsi elite and the Hutus who constituted most of the rest of the population has been accepted by European and Rwandan historians alike. The Mwami Musinga initially refused to learn to read to avoid becoming a Christian. Musinga was sent to Kinyaga in the southwest of Rwanda and told that if he caused any problems, he would be deported. The dispute between Bourgeois and Mortehan is significant because it shows that Belgium’s colonial representatives did not act in a unified and coherent way with regard to Musinga.
